Today we took our first excursion to the north of Olkhon Island whixh was a great journey. We ploghed through the dirt tracks in the russian version of a vw camper for most of the day to see the coastline around the north and east sides of the island where the ice is now completely gone. We stopped at the site of the gulag on the island and were told that there was one lady who still lived on the island aho had spent time in the gulag but she did not want visitors.

via travelblog.org

One of the most spectacular and unspoiled places on earth, which attracts tourists worldwide, is lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. This lake is considered to have the purest and most tasteful water known to man. The water in the lake is so clean and clear that one can easily catch sight of fish some forty meters down (120 feet).

There is a legend, which tourists enjoy, that a boater lost his watch to the lake which can still be seen on the bottom.

There are thousands of lakes on this planet but we are speaking of no ordinary lake, but rather about one of nature's miracles. One of the few unique places left of unspoiled beauty.

Here are some interesting facts about this lake:

1. Baikal’s basin is made up of three underwater depressions, which together holds more water than all five of the Great Lakes of North America. It holds one fifth of the earth's supply of fresh water.
2. This Siberian miracle of nature is the deepest lake (1,700 m ) in the world.
3. The lake is so large that all of the rivers on the Earth combined would take an entire year to fill it.
4. At 25-30 million years old, it is the oldest lake in the world.
5. Baikal also hides a mystery.

via travelwebdir.com

Put together throughout two centuries and a half, the Hermitage collections of works of art (over 3,000,000 items) present the development of the world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. Today the Museum is creating its digital self-portrait to be displayed around the world. Computer technologies enable the State Hermitage Museum to provide people from all over the world with wider access to information about the Museum and its treasures.

Main Museum Complex
The basic display areas of the State Hermitage occupy 365 rooms in the Main Museum Complex located in the historic centre of St Petersburg. Museum consists of six buildings constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries, among which the most important is the Winter Palace, the former imperial residence. The green-and-white 3-story palace has 1786 doors, 1945 windows and 1057 halls and rooms, many of which are open to the public. The Winter Palace was built for Empress Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. By the time it was completed Elisabeth had already died, and only Catherine the Great and her successors could enjoy their new home.

via articlejoe.com

Moscow is the capital of Russia, a huge megapolis with a population of 10 million, surrounded by the 10 million populated suburban area. Kazan is the old capitol of Tatarian state, incorporated to Russia in XVI century.

Our route takes us to East through or near Vladimir (the cradle of the contemporary Russian state), Nizhniy Novgorod (simply “Nizhniy”, “lower”, a big city at the Volga river, so-called “2 ½ th capitol” of Russia), Cheboksary (pretty capitol of Chuvash republic) and many smaller cities and villages.

This is a part of the Federal Road “Volga” from Moscow to Ufa.

The total distance is equal to 872 km (545 mi). The time required to drive by car is 10-16 hours (depending on traffic jams, season, whether, road situation and police activity). Roads are best from June to September. Gas, food and water are not a problem. The usual day temperatures: winter - +2Co - - 15Co (lower temperatures up to - 30Co are probable); summer - +15Co - +25Co. In winter a part of road to East of Nizhniy may be closed for 12 hours and more because of snow-drifts.

via opentravelinfo.com

The Sloventsky Islands are located in the White Sea in northwestern Russia, less than 100 miles from the arctic circle. These islands are famous with their monastery there from 15th century. The monastery was restored and today the islands’ natural beauty, spiritual significance and weighty history draw tourists of all kinds to their shores.

The monastery’s several churches rise above the fortress that surrounds it and are mirrored in the calm waters of the White Sea. The sea is frozen most of the year, limiting the navigation season to three months over the summer.

The large Solovetsky Island, site of the Solovetsky monastery and village, is one of many in the archipelago. Some are so small they bear no human structures, others, such as Anzer, are the sites of minor monasteries maintained by Orthodox monks.

via wayfaring.info

The spectacular St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century to commemorate a military victory. It is easily the most famous sight on Red Square.

Saint Basil's is located at one end of Red Square, just across from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin. Not particularly large, it consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation.

The riot of color and shapes that is St. Basil's Cathedral is unmatched anywhere else in the world. The French diplomat Marquis de Custine commented that it combined "the scales of a golden fish, the enamelled skin of a serpent, the changeful hues of the lizard, the glossy rose and azure of the pigeon's neck" and wondered at "the men who go to worship God in this box of confectionery work."

The powerfully eastern design of St. Basil's reflects both its location between Europe and Asia and its historical origins. Since the Kazan Qolsharif mosque had been the principal symbol of the Khanate captured by Ivan the Terrible, some elements from the mosque were incorporated into the cathedral to symbolize the victory.

via sacred-destinations.com

Novgorod is an old Russian city, history of which goes back to almost 1000 years. Once it competed with Moscow for domination of Old Russia and emerged as a political center of Slavic and Fino-Ugric tribes in the mid-9th century, while as a town it was formed in the middle of the 10th century. Just outside of Novgorod is the Vitoslavlitsy Museum of Wooden Architecture which has a collection of 22 wooden structures all built without nails. 240 000 inhabitants populate now this nothern city. Modern Novgorod is a stunning combination of old and new.

After the Second World War the historical part of the city was built up in such a way as to avoid confining ancient temples within the narrow well-like yards of high-rise apartment buildings.

Nowadays Novgorod, lying on the highway connecting Moscow and St Petersburg, enjoys stable economic and cultural links with both capitals, the Karelia region and the Baltic states, and also attracts foreign investors.

via world66.com

The Holy Trinity Lavra or Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra (Trinity-Sergius Monastery) is the most important monastery in Russia and the spiritual center of Russian Orthodox Christianity. Founded in 1345 by St. Sergius of Radonezh and containing his relics, Holy Trinity is located in the city of Sergiyev Posad (formerly known by the Soviet name Zagorsk) about 45 miles northeast of Moscow.

According to Lonely Planet Russia & Belarus, "If you have time for just one day trip out of Moscow, this is the obvious choice." UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1993, calling it "a fine example of a working Orthodox monastery, with military features that are typical of the 15th to the 18th century."

via sacred-destinations.com

This world-class museum is not to be missed, but where to start, with more than 350 rooms? Skip the lines by buying tickets online, then hit the highlights. Room 214: a diminutive duo of sublime Madonna paintings by Da Vinci, in one of the palace's most ornate chambers. Room 246: 26 portraits by Van Dyck. Room 247: a gallery of robust, fleshy Rubenses. And Room 254: Rembrandt's Danae, miraculously restored after being defaced in 1985.

via travelandleisure.com

If you're looking for a hearty cultural experience in a land where the hearts of the people are as big as the land itself, Russia is the place for you! Russia has everything one could possibly want, culturally and intellectually.

Russia is one of the most beautifully diverse countries in the world, and contains all of the major vegetation zones of the world, apart from tropical rainforest.

Russia's topography includes the world's deepest lake (Baikal) and Europe's highest mountain (Mount Elbrus) and longest river (volga).

via travellersworldwide.com

The weeks surrounding the summer solstice in northern Russia are known as the 'White Nights', when the sun barely sets and the country celebrates its round-the-clock glow. From May to July each year St Petersburg basks in the cultural light of ballet, opera and musical events. While in more remote regions the festivities may be a little less flamboyant, as Intrepid's Tara Kennaway discovered, seeing the sun almost set on Solovki is a very special experience...

The Solovetsky Islands, known commonly as Solovki, are filled with the awesome beauty of forests, lakes, windswept rocky bays and picturesque churches, conflicting with their horrific history. For hundreds of years this isolated region was home to one of the world's greatest monasteries, before the creation of the Russian empire turned it into a place of exile. During the Soviet years Solovki housed one of the USSR's most notorious prison camps, the tragedy of which is described in Solzhenitsn's 'The Gulag Archipelago'.

via intrepidtravel.com

The architectural richness of the Russian Empire reflected its long history and the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of its people. Prokudin-Gorskii photographed medieval churches and monasteries in European Russia and mosques and Islamic schools in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Many of the buildings he photographed were later destroyed by war or revolution, but others survived the Soviet period and have been restored. In addition to religious buildings, Prokudin-Gorskii photographed houses, country estates, factories, and barns. His skill as a photographer and the technical sophistication of his methods are apparent in the treatment of subjects ranging from church interiors to panoramic shots of cities.

via loc.gov

The State Hermitage occupies six magnificent buildings situated along the embankment of the River Neva, right in the heart of St Petersburg. The leading role in this unique architectural ensemble is played by the Winter Palace, the residence of the Russian tsars that was built to the design of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-62...

via hermitagemuseum.org

St. Basil’s Cathedral is Russia’s most enduring symbol. It is located in Red Square, next to the Kremlin, in downtown Moscow. Ivan the Terrible ordered it. Its architect, Postnik Yakovlev, was blinded so that he would not be able to recreate its beauty...

via europeeuphoria.com

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Trans-Siberian was up-scaled.

Back in the early 1990s when I traveled the legendary journey, it cost just $150 to travel nearly a quarter of the globe, from Moscow to Beijing. And I paid inflated tourist prices at the time...

via gadling.com